Artist:

Toivo Kuula

Toivo Timoteus Kuula (7 July 1883 - 18 May 1918) was a Finnish conductor and composer. He was born in the city of Vaasa (in those days Nikolainkaupunki), when Finland still was a Grand Duchy under Russian rule. He is known as a colorful and passionate portrayer of Finnish nature and people. A Swedish critic once said that Kuula's music reaches parts of the human spirit where one is forced to deep examination of one's self. Toivo Kuula died in the provincial hospital in Viipuri in 1918 after being mortally wounded 18 days earlier on Walpurgis Night by a bullet fired by a Jäger.